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Dessert

To Make a Quaking Pudding

A custard-like pudding made with cream, eggs, and flour, boiled in a cloth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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To Make a Quaking Pudding

Why it works: Nutmeg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Make a Quaking Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat the cream, eggs, and egg whites together until well mixed.

  2. Grate in a little nutmeg and add salt and rose water if desired.

  3. Mix in the crumb of a halfpenny roll or flour that has been combined with a little cream.

Boil the pudding

  1. Prepare a cloth by buttering and flouring it, then pour in the mixture.

  2. Tie the cloth loosely and boil for 30 minutes in rapidly boiling water.

  3. Ensure the water is boiling before adding the pudding.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Nutmeg + rosetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard-like mixture and give the pudding its structure as it cooks.
Egg whites
Add lightness and help the pudding hold together while it boils.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, giving the pudding its soft, tender texture.
Flour or roll crumb
Thickens the mixture slightly so it holds its shape when boiled.

The step that matters

Ensure the water is boiling before adding the pudding. Starting in water that is already at a rolling boil sets the outside of the pudding quickly, helping it hold its shape rather than turning heavy or loose.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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